Somewhere Only We Know
by LipstickOnMyLollipop
Summary: In which Tori's diary is stolen and love is found several times in the most curious places and strangest circumstances...
1. Chapter 1

**Summary-** In which Tori's diary is stolen and love is found several times in the most curious places and strangest circumstances...

**Prologue**

Tori Vega was never one to take things to heart that didn't matter, but the truth was, Jade's opinion of her meant more than most. Jade was the most critical of judges, not sparing anyone's feelings for even the sake of herself.

Tori hadn't been in Hollywood Arts for too long, and she was still learning the ropes. If it wasn't for Jade's pushing, she wouldn't have strived so hard to prove her wrong every time that she told her she wasn't good enough.

She didn't mind the emotional damage as long as Jade even bothered to critique her. She wouldn't do it if she didn't care, right? And as long as she cared, there was hope for her at that school.

The bell rang, and her next class was with one Miss Jade West in Screen Writing, her worst subject. Jade would criticize her and tell her everything that she was doing wrong. From the way her writing lacked emotion to the way she held her pencil.

Jade would think of her as someone just above being useless and would indirectly teach her how to be a better performer and writer.

Tori Vega was quite the optimist.

* * *

Jade West feigned nonchalance. Every day, she pretended that the way Beck talked to other girls after their break up didn't shred her heart into bloody tatters three times over. She was the best actress at the school, along with the best writer, and one of the best singers.

People worshiped the ground she and Beck walked on. They weren't the typical popular couple either. Jade wasn't one to get her minions to back her up in a fight because she couldn't handle it herself.

No, Jade had no minions. She didn't like people enough to even consider having a group of girls tailing her like lost puppies everyday. That, and it was the ultimate cliché. People fell in love with her voice, her face, her body, her personality.

She was such a lovely work of art, a masterpiece of the most violent and deep persuasion. As much as she would deny it, she loved the feeling of being wanted. She didn't get it often, but when she did, she reveled in it.

She was Jade West and she was unstoppable. Until a certain half-Latina waltzed into the school that she practiced an audition for years to get into by mere chance. The fact that her sister's tongue blew up like the boys bathroom being the only reason she got to sing in the big showcase.

To sing in the showcase was such an honor, and she hadn't even had the chance of doing such a wonderful thing. So she made Tori Vega's life a living hell. She made sure that Tori knew she wasn't wanted around her, that not everyone would be wrapped around her finger and run behind or alongside her like little lap dogs.

Yet when she got to class and saw Tori animatedly talking to a large group of people that adored her, she couldn't help but feel that maybe she wasn't good enough.

Jade West was a bit of a pessimist.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Jade sat at a table as far away from the regular group as possible, angrily stabbing at her salad with a plastic fork and a frown on her face. She heard the table make a slight noise, signaling that someone had dared to join her presence. Her eyes snapped up, a biting insult on the tip of her tongue, which died as soon as she saw who it was.

"What do you want Andre?" She inquired in a dull monotone, languidly dropping her gaze back to the container of salad in front of her.

His ever-present smile dimmed just slightly in worry. He jerked a thumb back to where the rest of their friends sat and raised an eyebrow. "They were worried about you." He stated seriously.

Jade's gaze rose once more to glance in that direction before shrugging slightly and spearing her fork through the lettuce before placing it in her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully for a moment then swallowed. "And you weren't?" She asked as if she didn't care what his answer was in the slightest.

"I didn't say that." He defended, almost sounding exasperated.

"It was implied." Jade continued matter of factly.

"No, you insinuated-" Andre began to respond but was immediately cut off.

"It's the same thing Andre." She stated, placing another fork-full of salad into her mouth.

"Well yeah, but I-" Andre started once more but was once again cut of.

"Do you own a dictionary, Harris?" Jade asked with a slight tilt of her head, causing those waves of onyx to spill over one shoulder.

"Of course I do!" The musician piped up, seemingly offended that she even asked.

Jade finished chewing the last piece of lettuce in the container before flipping it closed.

"Use it." She demanded neutrally while standing and walking, no, strutting, to the garbage can like she owned the world. The fork and container were dumped and she kept walking, without falter, toward the school doors.

That was, until _she_ saw her.

"Jade!"

The pale girl sighed and muttered a curse under her breath. Slowly, she spun on one heel to face where the voice was coming from.

"_What_?" She almost growled at the peppy half-Latina standing before her.

"I was wondering if you'd read over my first draft for my story? I'd really like to hear your opinion." The brunette smiled dazzlingly and held out a red notebook with her first and last name scrawled in curvy handwriting. _Tori Vega_ _– Room 113_.

Jade just stared at the notebook, and then her eyes flicked back to Tori's.

"That's what a first draft is _for_. So our teacher can read over it and give you notes." She explained as if telling a toddler.

"Well, yeah, I know… but I want your opinion too."

Jade's eyes rolled as she snatched the book from Tori and quickly skimmed through the first couple of pages.

"It's garbage." Jade declared and shoved it against Tori's chest and into her arms before strutting through the school doors, and leaving Tori with determination bubbling in her stomach. Or maybe it was that taco she had just eaten…

* * *

Jade sat at her desk in Screen Writing. They didn't have assigned seats, but that was Jade's Seat, and everyone knew it. She made sure of that. Her pen scribbled furiously in her notebook, trying to jot down all of her thoughts before she forgot.

She was extremely confident in the storyline and knew it would blow her classmates, and her teacher's, minds. She began to get so lost in her writing, that when Naya – a girl who sat in the back of the class all the time and never said much to people she wouldn't be bothered with- tapped her shoulder. She flinched hard and messed up what would have been another word written in flawless penmanship.

"Damn it!" she nearly shouted, slamming her pen down onto the desk, missing the scolding look her teacher shot her, and sharply turning to see who had interrupted her.

Naya stood there, not seeming to be effected by Jade's hostile behavior.

"Tori wanted me to give you this." The Puerto Rican said and placed a worn composition book on her desk, beside Jade's previously abandoned pen.

"What is it?" Jade asked, eyes flicking from the composition book to the girl with dark brown hair and red tips.

"Hell if I know. I hate her too, but it sounded important. Well, important enough that she screwed up my story from all the times she tapped on my damn arm." Naya said with the beginnings of a sneer on her exotic face.

Jade smirked, amused by the girl, and flipped open the front cover with an over-dramatic sigh.

"Tori's Diary?" Jade read aloud, her arched eyebrows shooting up as she snapped her gazed back to Naya. "Why the hell would she give me…" Jade trailed off as she saw the smirk on Naya's face and the mischievous look that danced behind her eyes.

"You stole this." Jade stated, not making it a question. She was impressed.

The Puerto Rican grinned with a slight shrug. "She was the one stupid enough to leave her book bag unzipped." Naya stated, looking over Jade's shoulder.

"Well, you gonna read it or not?" The tanned girl asked with a quirk of her eyebrow.

"Not here. Meet me at SkyBucks tonight at 10? Maybe she'll finally give up and realize she isn't built for this kind of place." Jade mused with a devious smirk.

"I'm loving how you think, hun. I'll be there." Naya smiled and stood up straight, going back to her seat while Jade discreetly put Tori's diary away.

She _will_ be on top again. That, Jade vowed.

* * *

Jade walked through the front door of her house and kicked her leg out backwards to close it. The harsh sound of it slamming bounced off of the walls and only succeeded in intensifying the already deafening silence.

"I'm home." Jade muttered to no one, shouldering her Gears of War bag and taking a few more steps down the hall until she reached the kitchen.

The house never truly felt like home to her. To Jade it was just a big, glorified carcass of what her family used to be. And carcass was extremely accurate, for the close bond that a family should share, was dead.

She was just waiting for the funeral, when all the animosity and bitterness would be buried and forgotten, never to be thought of or dreamt about again. The clunk of her boots was the only sound as she made her way to the refrigerator and pulled it open.

Of course there was no food. Since no one had time to go grocery shopping, and when Jade tried to get food herself, she was reprimanded. Where was the justice? She used to ask herself.

Until she finally realized that Justice was just as dead of a dream as a Utopia when her family members were involved. She heaved a sigh and settled on a glass of water, grabbing the cup from the cabinet and filling it to the brim; she slowly sipped off of the top until she could walk without it spilling everywhere.

The Goth set her bag down on top of the kitchen table, which was never actually used to eat at. Somehow, during all these thoughts of how abnormal her life was, Tori Vega managed to enter her mind once again.

Just the thought of someone so ridiculously hopeful and happy just made Jade want to lock her in a torture chamber to show her that not everyone on this Earth is so fucking nice and helpful to bring people to the top, because as soon as they do, they find something to tear you all the way back down.

The music and acting business was brutal. Jade sat down at a stool at the island and drummed her hails on the top of it, waiting for Naya to send her some of her poetry through email.

After their scheme, they had ended up working together on the assignment for their Screen Writing class. During their partnership, Jade realized that Naya's writing was as advanced as her own.

Eventually the Goth got the Puerto Rican to admit to writing a bit of poetry, and after warning Jade that it was extremely dark, she agreed to send them to her. Jade nervously glanced toward the clock on her Pear Phone and raised an eyebrow.

It was already 7. She had really been sitting there for nearly four hours lost in her own thoughts. Jade stood and finished off her water before setting the glass in the dishwasher and making her way down the hall and up the stairs to her bedroom, where she laid out several outfits to choose from.

Her face frowned up in genuine concentration as she rearranged and swapped things out for others when she finally came to a halt and looked absolutely confused as to why she was stressing so much over what to wear to meet the girl who would be helping her sabotage Tori Vega.

She shook her head, almost disgusted with herself, and pulled on a red and black flannel shirt and some dark blue skinny jeans. She couldn't decide between high-top converse and combat boots, so she picked the ones that were easier to put on: the converse.

Satisfied, Jade swapped her important stuff, including the diary, out of her book bag and into her messenger bag. She touched up her make-up in the bathroom and looked at her phone.

"Nine thirty…" she muttered and closed the door to her room, walking down the stairs and to the end of the hall to reach the front door.

Soon she was walking up to SkyBucks and the rich smell of coffee and pastries flooded her senses. She grinned at the child ahead of her, who's eyes were flooding tears over the fact that she couldn't have a cookie.

The Goth chuckled under her breath at the mother's exasperated sigh as she gave into the nearly screaming kid's pleas and bought one of the chocolaty delights. The family moved out of line to go to the bathroom as they awaited their order.

Jade then ordered her own black coffee, and as she waited for her order, the light fingertips of someone's soft fingers trailed down her arms from behind. The fingers left a trail of goose bumps in their wake, causing Jade to jump in surprise.

She glared when she realized that it was Naya, standing there with the largest and most confident smirk on her face that Jade had ever seen on anyone, including herself.

"The hell are you doing?" Jade nearly shouted, the only thing stopping her being that they're in a public area where all the interns go and do their bosses coffee run.

"Having fun." Naya answered casually while ordering a frappuccino and moving off to the side to get a napkin and sitting at a table.

Jade frowned at how quickly Naya got her drink and leaned both of her elbows on the counter. "What the hell are they doing back there?" Jade said sharply over the counter, in the direction of the back where they worked. When they made no move to hustle, Naya stood and pushed her way through the front of the line.

"Hey! No cutting, we were here first." A balding man with a beer gut pointed out.

"What the fuck are you? Five? Now, backs the fucks up before I shove my straw up your ass."

Jade's eyes widened in awe at the bold Puerto Rican while she finished making her way up the counter.

"Hey! Orca, SpongeBob and Dumbo! Imma need for you to imagine there's a prize at the end of you making her coffee." Naya began while Jade watched on in amusement.

"Orca, think about the fact that if you don't try and put some pep in your step now, there might not me anymore steps for you later on in life, I'm positive you've thought about liposuction, haven't you? SpongeBob, I know you're shaped like a kids cartoon, but that doesn't mean you can stop our joys of life just 'cause you couldn't fulfill yours. And Dumbo, you want plastic surgery on those balloons you have stuck to the side of your head, but you know what? You can't afford it 'til you get your damn job done. Okay hunnies? ¿Lo entiendes? ¿Sí? Sí." Naya finished with a sarcastic smile as she leaned her elbows on the counter and personally waited for them to scrape up whatever pride they had left and rush to make Jade's coffee.

All in two minuets, including the time that it took for Naya to yell at them.

"It took them long enough." Jade muttered as she snatched her coffee and walked, with Naya trailing behind, to get two sugars and mix it in. Soon they were sitting side by side in the booth, as far away from the other customers as possible and sipping their drinks as Jade brought out the diary.

They flipped to the second page, where the entrees started, and began to read.

_12/27/10_

_I just met her today, though it wasn't at all a formal introduction. I should've known the girl that offered to help me in the hallway would have a hot boyfriend and a HBIC attitude. However, I digress. Her eyes have been on my mind all night and I made a note of figuring out exactly what color those eyes are… if she let's me near her again. To be perfectly honest, the whole idea of a new school –especially for those as talented as those kids are- is daunting. I didn't have the ideal first day, but then I just imagine what it would be like to not face the anger of all of them who believe that I don't deserve to be here. I can't say that they're wrong, especially when she looks at me the way she does._

Jade huffed and sat back in her seat, absolutely stumped. Naya peeked through the long dark hair that curtained her face and raised an arched eyebrow. "Who's she talking about?" The Puerto Rican inquired, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Jade simply shrugged, at a loss for words on the subject.

"Let's read the other page."

_1/15/10_

_It's Trina's birth week and I'm not so sure what to get my sister. I want to ask her because for whatever reason, I feel like she'd have the answer to any question I asked her. I observed her secretly for the past two weeks and she's so smart, and sarcastic, and witty. I want to laugh at most of what she says but I feel like she'd snap at me for it. I don't let it show… not even a little, but every time she puts down an idea of mine, it hurts. I'm not sure if this is becoming an obsession or not, but I can't shake the feeling that there's way more to her than she lets on. She and my new eccentric friend have an interesting relationship that I've only seen hints of. Everyone here is a mystery, and I do love solving them._

Naya snorted and flipped ahead a few pages. "I'm not even sure this is her diary anymore." She laughed softly. Jade turned her head so that her black curls fell over one shoulder.

"And why is that?" She asked curiously.

"Because!" Naya started, as if the answer was blatantly obvious. She laughed humorlessly and slammed the journal shut.

"She writes like she's in the first grade when we're in class, then we read this and she writes like she actually has a damn brain!" The Puerto Rican exclaimed, eyes narrowing. "I'm feeling like she's playing us." Naya admitted.

"How would she be doing that?" Jade asked. She had her theories but she wanted to see if Naya could keep up with her mind enough for this sabotage to work out.

"Either she's dumbing herself _all_ the way down for someone's attention, or she's using this to throw us off, however unlikely _that_ is. But it's just a thought, anyway, I've gotta feeling that whoever she's fangirling over is another girl." Naya said with a smirk, noting the way that Jade rolled her blue-gray eyes but smiled nonetheless. She couldn't help the reddening of her cheeks when she thought about what a beautiful smile it was.

_I'm so glad I didn't cut my hair…_ She thought to herself when she used those strands of brown and red to hide the blush on her face.

* * *

**A/N: **I have more written, just let me know if I should continiue :) Yes, this will be an eventual Jori, I just want to try out a longer storyline than I usually do (None of them on here). Let me know what you think and suggestions are always welcome, thanks for reading.

**-C**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Naya had boldly asked to spend the night at Jade's house, to look over the diary and find a more comfortable place to do so as opposed to the hard wooden benches that they feverishly tried to pass for booths in SkyBucks.

It took major convincing and even a bit of reverse-psychology on Naya's part before the Goth eventually gave in, secretly happy that she wouldn't be alone in that huge house by herself. No matter how much she loved the dark, nothing could truly frighten her more than complete isolation.

This is why she had clung to Beck for so long, only at the last possible moment accepting that the relationship was over and she'd have to find her way through life alone once more. They had both walked to the coffee shop, and ended up having to walk back, not minding because of the close proximity as well as the nice weather outside.

The sun had set and the moon cast down a luminescent glow that illuminated Jade's pale skin. The weather was warm, the sky was cloudy, and halfway into the fifteen minuet walk, it began to rain. Small droplets at first, which had landed on Naya's nose, causing her to look up in confusion.

It rarely rained around there. Jade chuckled quietly when the rain began to pour down and Naya growled, protesting that her hair was ruined and got impatient when Jade refused to speed up her pace.

Eventually she shot her hand out, slick with rain, and wrapped it around the Goth's, dragging her forward for about a block before she realized she had no idea where they were going.

"Damn it." She drew out in a long groan.

"Minx." Naya pouted, much to Jade's silent amusement.

"What's wrong with the rain?" She asked around a dangerously cocky smirk.

"What's wrong with the-" Naya began, sputtering.

"What the fuck do you _mean_ what's wrong with the rain?" She shouted, gripping her dyed hair in a fist and shoving it in front of Jade's eyes with a frenzied look in her eyes. "My hair is shot. Done. Muerto!"

Jade cautiously reached up and pushed the Puerto Rican's thick, now wavy hair behind one ear, showing off her high cheek bones, which in her opinion were far more impressive than Vega's.

Naya went silent at the gesture, content to watch the look of utter calmness on Jade's face as she played with her hair.

"The rain is peaceful if you would let it be." The Goth murmured off-handedly.

Naya watched those multi-colored eyes trail along her face, becoming self-conscious and feeling the need to look away when blue eyes met her own brown ones.

A flicker of something flashed through Jade's eyes for a brief second and left Naya's stomach reeling with the flips it was doing. The pale girl withdrew her hand and took a step back, realizing that they'd been standing there for nearly fifteen minuets just gazing at each other.

The Goth cleared her throat nervously and started walking forward. "We should get inside before I have to stick you in the dryer." Jade said dryly, turning her head slightly to the side to glance at the tanned girl for a brief moment. Naya wasted no time in following.

By the time they made it into Jade's overly large house, considering that she was really the only one that lived there full time, they were soaked through and through. Jade strictly directed Naya not to take one step through the house while she was still dripping water.

Jade removed her soggy converse and wrung her hair out on her stone porch, removing her button up flannel shirt and hanging it on the back of a chair. The Goth quickly ran through the house in her black bra and tight jeans to the bathroom for two body towels.

The pale girl muttered and cursed under her breath when her shaking fingers failed several times to retrieve the plush towels from the closet when a long, tanned arm reached out steadily behind her and pulled the two from the stack that Jade was reaching for.

Naya watched the muscles in the paler girl's back slowly tensed and she began to turn around with a scowl on her face.

"I thought I told you not to-" Jade's sentence was cut off when her mind registered that Naya had repeated her process and was standing just in her bra and jeans, the wet strands of her hair sticking to the side of her face, her arms, back, and her forehead.

The Goth stuttered for a moment, the onslaught of feelings being completely foreign to her. Unsure of what else to say, she murmured a quick thank you when Naya handed one of the towels to her. Jade sidestepped from between the closet and the Puerto Rican, drawing in a deep breath and wringing her hair out with the towel.

If the heat that began to wash over her body was any indication, she didn't need the towel.

Eventually, Jade's mind cleared enough for her to get two new shirts for them both, hurriedly retrieving them from her closet and telling herself that she was in a rush because she wanted to get back to the diary.

In reality, Jade had become addicted to the electricity and heat that shot down her spine and lapped at her nerves around her new friend. All of these feelings, and Naya hadn't really even touched her yet.

_Woah, yet? _

Jade gently shook her head and heaved a sigh as she made her way back into the living room where Naya sat comfortably on her couch, leafing through the pages of the composition book.

"Did you start without me?" Jade asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Wha- no! I was just thinking." The tanned girl replied quietly while running the pad of her index finger down the margins of the page.

"About what?" Jade inquired as she sat down beside the Puerto Rican and handed her the shirt. The Goth silently prayed that Naya's body wasn't more filled out than her own, or else they'd both be screwed. As the tan girl worked the shirt over her head, she cleared her throat almost nervously while she adjusted it to her body.

"Nothing." She stated, but she could've said just that, nothing, for all the effect it had on Jade, who was far too stunned into silence from the way the shirt fit to her curves. She wasn't blatantly staring, but she was speechless.

Naya waved a hand in front of Jade's face amusedly. "C'mon honey, I need you to wake up and read this with me." She said, laughing softly.

Jade frowned slightly and stood up, mumbling about being thirsty and quickly disappearing into the kitchen. Naya looked on confusedly and seemed to make a decision before standing and following Jade to the back.

"Do you have hot chocolate?" Naya asked before she stepped fully into the kitchen, then paused when she saw Jade with her arms supporting her while she leaned over the sink, taking deep breaths.

"What's wrong?" She asked, noting Jade tensing up once more as she took a hesitant step forward.

"Nothing." Jade said with one more breath before turning on her heel to face the tanned girl.

She quirked an eyebrow, her eyes guarded. Naya had an odd coiling sensation in her stomach, not liking that she wasn't able to read her. This made her unpredictable, and ultimately made Naya wary.

"Alright… well, do you?" Naya asked, suddenly nervous.

"Yes," Jade answered, giving no other information.

"…Can we make some?" Naya asked hesitantly.

"No." Jade responded, straight faced as ever.

"Why not?" Naya inquired, frowning at Jade's behavior.

"Because 'cow juice' is disgusting, and ruining chocolate with it is stupid." She stated seriously with air quotations.

The Puerto Rican smirked and crossed the kitchen in a few strides, standing beside the Goth. "Alright then… I have an idea."

Jade raised an eyebrow, the usual liveliness in her bright blue-gray eyes hidden behind another wall she threw up.

"Like?" Jade asked, watching Naya expectantly.

"Just give me the mix and two mugs. I'll do the rest." She grinned down at the pale girl and gently bumped her shoulder into the Goth's. Jade watched her warily before retrieving the items, pushing herself up on her tip toes; she brought down two mugs from the cabinet and the mix out of the pantry, setting them on the table silently.

Naya took the mugs to the refrigerator and filled them with filtered water before sticking them in the microwave for a minuet. A silent minuet passed before the beep loudly rang and the tanned girl removed the mugs and poured the chocolate mix into it.

Jade silently handed her a spoon and Naya mixed them both completely before handing a mug to Jade. "Try it." She said, waiting.

Jade glanced down at the steaming mug then cautiously took a sip, letting the taste set in her mouth for a moment before taking a bigger sip the next time.

Naya grinned and leaned back against the island, her mug safely between her hands. "So?" she prompted with a confident grin.

"It's alright." Jade murmured grudgingly.

"So that's Jade Talk for 'Yes, it's good but I'm just too prideful to admit it'?" Naya laughed.

Jade just shook her head, holding back a smile and wandered back into the living room, Naya following once again.

Jade made her way to the couch and plopped down, tucking a leg beneath her butt and reaching on the table for the journal. Naya beat her to it and swiped the book from right beneath Jade's pale hand.

The Goth sent a half-hearted glare in her direction while she sat down beside Jade and opened to the third entry. She scooted over on the couch so that the one half of the composition book lay open against both of their thighs.

Jade leaned further in, her head bowing over the book at the same time as Naya's. Jade's cheeks heated up from the accidental closeness, though neither of them made any effort to move away from each other.

1/20/10

_Today we had stage fighting lessons and I was paired with __her__. I can __not __believe my misfortune… Jade West of all people? I have reason to believe that she'll actually hit me when it's our time to perform. I'll admit, I was holding her back while we rehearsed.__ She was clearly used to more talented and experienced people than myself. It really hit hard when she called me worthless and stormed out, snatching the cane we used as a prop out of my hand and hurling it against the wall. She really hates me doesn't she? What am I even asking my diary for? It's not like you'd ever give me an answer anyway._

Jade's eyes had widened to almost cartoonish proportions, making Naya nearly choke on her hot chocolate.

"What?" She laughed; staring at Jade's shocked expression. Naya soon realized that the girl was serious and the smile dropped from her face. "What happened?"

"The '_her'_ that Vega kept mentioning… She's talking about me." Jade said, finishing with her voice barely above a whisper.

"So, what are you gonna do about that?" Naya asked quietly, watching several emotions flash through Jade's eyes rapidly.

"I don't know."

* * *

**A/N: Alright, chapter 2 is up. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again. I never was good with deadlines...**

**Anyway.**

**I really appreciate the love this story got, I wasn't sure how it would do. Yes, I do take reviews into consideration and I know that a few of you dislike -or just hate- Naya. _But_ I'd just like to point out that eventually, Naya will be the reason that Tori and Jade get together. There's that little bit of info to hold back the mobs for a while...**

**I hope.**

**Let me know what you think. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Victorious.

**Side-note: **All mistakes are mine, feel free to point them out and I'll fix them :)

* * *

**Chapter 3**

After her life-altering realization, Jade made sure to avoid Tori Vega at all costs. On the way to her scissor decorated locker, she glanced around for any sight of the half-Latina. Unfortunately, her eyes locked right onto the girl she was so feverishly hoping to avoid.

She mumbled a quick curse under her breath when Tori made her way over to the pale thespian. "Jade! Can you read this poem I wrote for Mr. Clayton's class? You know how he is with this kinda stuff, right? I heard he's a total perfectionist!" The tan girl relayed the information as if it was extremely vital, which Jade would not hesitate to oppose to.

She couldn't for the life of her understand why someone as annoyingly persistent as Tori Vega had to make it a point to bother her of all people. A heavy, tired sigh slipped between Jade's parted lips with visible difficulty.

She had a dilemma.

She could both flat out deny the peppy half-Latina and risk being pestered for the rest of the day, or she could use the presented opportunity to shoot down Vega's writing once again just to see that pathetic look on her face.

The devious smile that began to form on her lips immediately dissolved when she remembered that Tori was a better writer than she showed. Immensely better in fact. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Right before Jade could open her mouth to tell Tori exactly where she could shove her poetry; Naya waltzed up between the two and wrapped an arm around Jade's shoulder.

"Oh, fantastic. It's you." The Puerto Rican said with a huge false smile.

A barely visible frown creased Tori's smooth forehead. Shifting her stance to appear slightly less vulnerable, she crossed her arms defiantly and met Naya's fierce glare with a level gaze of her own.

"Oh, Naya... I just saw your dad the other day! He saw me about my ankle problems. Best doctor a girl could ask for, right?" Tori smiled sweetly, her smile brightening the halls as usual.

Naya's lips turned up into a scowl as she took a step toward Tori and brought Jade further along with her.

The brown eyed Puerto Rican was furious because as far as she knew, her father was long gone.

As long as he sent her a check every month, he made her promise to not ask him to come back. Jade looked between the two with a genuinely confused expression on her face.

Her already tried patience dissipated in seconds and she snapped. "Oh my god! Tori, just give me the damn poem so I can go to class!" Jade demanded agitatedly while she easily removed herself from beneath Naya's arm.

Andre made his way over to the small group and ruffled Tori's hair.

"What's going on over here?" He asked seriously with a playful expression on his face.

"Nothing." Tori cheerily responded settled her peaceful gaze on Jade.

"Never mind, I'll get someone else to do it. I get it, you're not the only good writer at this school." The singer smiled good-naturedly.

"See you two around. C'mon Andre." Tori pulled on the pianist's hand and pulled him after her while Jade watched on, feeling offended and Naya watched her with a tiny smirk.

"Ha! You're jealous." Came Naya's taunting comment.

Jade's eyes cut viciously to the Puerto Rican's with a hard, much practiced glare.

"Shove it, Naya!" She growled and stalked off toward her next class. Said girl followed behind her with a small smirk playing on the corners of her full lips. "You don't want her to find someone else to read her writing. You'd miss her kissing the ground you walk on too much." Naya accused with an amused laugh.

"Oh my god, Jade you're pathetic." She joked. Suddenly Jade had spun on her heel to cut off Naya's pursuit forward.

"_I'm _pathetic? Tell me then, who's the one _blatantly_ flirting with me at school? _Never_ touch me." Jade hissed in anger at anyone talking to her like she was beneath them.

She knew exactly who she was, and maybe Naya needed to be reminded. Exactly as she'd intended, the brown eyed girl was caught off guard and the expressions on her face were enough of a dead giveaway for Jade to play off of.

"Do your parents know that you're gay?" She continued, not waiting for Naya to regain her mental balance before she verbally shoved her again.

In the following -stunned- silence, Jade pulled Naya into the janitor's closet, knowing that she had five minuets before the bell rang. "You thought you had me all figured out for a second, didn't you?" Before allowing the other girl a chance to respond, Jade was speaking again.

"_I_ control my relationships and I won't let a damn person get away with thinking they can seduce me without my knowing. So, should I let your father know about your recent infatuation with me, or will you learn how to keep your crushes to yourself?" The blue eyed thespian asked with a small, self-assured smirk.

"I hate you..." Was all Naya could even stutter at the moment.

"Maybe you do. But you can't say that if I were to kiss you right now..." Jade leaned in, a breath away from Naya's. The tanned girl's breathing stuttered and she barely brushed her lips against Jade's before the Goth pulled back.

"That you wouldn't kiss me back?" Disappointed in herself, Naya turned her head to the side and downward while Jade continued to smirk and headed out of the closet with a minuet to spare. The look on Naya's face was answer enough to Jade's questions.

* * *

The three toned bell rang to signal the end of all fifth period classes. A universal sigh of relief came from all around the school at the sound, and with it, the promise of lunch. Jade's stomach growled quietly at the reminder that Festus had recently put grilled chicken fajitas on the lunch menu at the Grub Truck.

As she gathered her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder, fully prepared to high-tail it right out of Sikowitz' class, she felt a disturbance to her right. Continuing her way out of the door, heavy footsteps that she knew all too well were keeping pace with her.

A painfully irritated sigh came from the pale girl.

"What do you want?" She asked the tall, olive skinned actor. Beck flashed a small smile and looked down at Jade.

"I don't get a 'Hi'?" He asked coolly. Blue eyes met his brown ones with a stare that clearly promised pain of he didn't make the reason for his presence known in the next few seconds. A serious look suddenly overtook the level-headed air about him as he gazed down at his former girlfriend.

"What's up with you and that girl?" Beck asked quietly as he stopped them both in front of his locker. In a moment of amusement, Jade realized he thought that he was being sly enough to cut off her exits by putting them in that spot.

The moment, however, quickly passed. "What girl?" The blue eyed actress asked in a monotone before she crossed her arms and leaned against the lockers to prepare herself for a long, irritating talk. "Red streaks, olive skin, tall, nice body-"

Jade immediately cut him off with, "Watch it, Oliver..." She warned with narrowed eyes. He simply waved her off and looked down at her. "What'd you do to her?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jade shot back with a threat underlying her words.

"You can't keep messing with people's heads every time you don't get your way. I saw you talking to her before first period." Beck said in a patronizing tone that he knew Jade hated.

"What we do or don't do, as well as what I do or don't do to her is none of your business, Beck." She said evenly, knowing that he would latch onto what she said faster than she could blink.

"Wait, are you two dating?" The floppy haired actor asked in disbelief. His eyes narrowed slightly as he blatantly looked her over, as if making sure he was talking to the right person.

"Why? Would that bother you?" Jade asked with the beginning of a smirk forming on her lips. The wheels seemed to turn in her head with the perfect way to get back at Beck, which she had been searching for since he broke up with her as well as the perfect way to get back at Tori and Naya in one.

God, she was a genius.

With that final thought, Jade turned on her heel and walked away from the conversation, leaving Beck to ponder the idea that Jade would actually become a lesbian after dating him for three years. He cringed and rubbed his forehead.

There goes his reputation.

-

The hot LA sun beat down on Jade's pale skin while she walked toward the grub truck to get her much-deserved chicken fajita. She stood in line right behind Tori, much to her satisfaction. The half Latina took her sweet time ordering her lunch and Jades patience began to dwindle.

When the singer finally decided on her order and made her way to the table where their odd group of friends sat, Jade stepped up and immediately ordered what she had craved all day.

"Sorry, your little friend just ordered the last fajita. We have other things if you would like?" Festus replied in his heavy accent and Jade pinched the bridge of her nose in a futile attempt to thwart the oncoming headache.

If Beck hadn't have stalled her with his stupid ass questions, Jade would have had her lunch and would've be perfectly content for the fifty minuet span of their lunch period. But now she had to lose her moment of content, once again, to Tori Vega.

'_Are you kidding me?_' her thoughts raged and flared in a moment of fury but it calmed as soon as it had come.

"Yeah, give me a taco." She replied calmly as she dug into her skirt's pocket for the ten dollar bill she'd found in her jacket that morning.

She paid for her less than appetizing lunch and walked to the lunch table where her friends were all sitting and making small talk.

"-and then when he wiped the blood off of her hand, he apologized! I think he's cool cheese." The snippet of conversation that Jade had picked up on when she finally sat down made her send a sort of disgusted look toward Robbie.

"What the hell are you morons talking about now?" she asked, reaching over and stealing Tori's fajita and placing her taco in the half-Latina's meal container instead.

Brown eyes glanced from Jade to the taco with a confused glance before she reached over and tried to take it back.

"That episode of Liar's Creek last night. Rob's got a man crush on one of the main characters." Andre responded with a smirk and a bite into his cheeseburger.

"I do _not!_ I just think he's very charming." Robbie defended himself while drawing a raised eyebrow and a curious glance from Jade and Cat. Tori's wrist was locked in Jade's hand while she bit into the fajita, making a small noise of appreciation for the meal.

"Damn, these are great." She mumbled.

Tori frowned and attempted once more to get her lunch back from Jade. "Hey, give it back!"

Andre noticed the struggling going on across the table and cleared his throat.

"Uh…Jade?" he interrupted while placing his cheeseburger down for the moment.

"What?" the blue eyed girl asked while taking another bite into Tori's lunch. The whole table glanced their way when the attention was called to them. Tori pouted slightly and yanked her hand back while picking up the taco and grudgingly biting into it.

"Why'd you take Tori's fajita?" the pianist asked calmly as Beck made his arrival known by sitting in between Tori and Jade.

Jade cut a glare toward the olive-skinned boy before answering the question.

"I took it because she bought the last one." Jade responded while finishing the already half-eaten lunch.

"You ate Tori's lunch?" Beck asked while looking over at the onyx-haired girl with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm tired of talking to you, Beckett." Jade huffed in annoyance and accidentally caught Tori's eye over Beck's shoulder where the half-Latina was shooting a sort of murderous glance his direction before her eyes landed on Jade's blue ones.

The pale thespian looked around the table at Cat, who watched Tori and Beck with an almost frightened look in her eyes, but she was the only one to notice.

Robbie was still attempting to explain to Andre, who was already done with the conversation, the reasons that anyone would admire the guy from Liar's Creek and Beck was still watching Jade with a look that said 'I know what you're up to.'

She decided that there were more steps to her plan than she'd originally figured and also that she was alright with that. The more complicated, the better in Jade's opinion.

* * *

At the end of her last period, Jade quickly made her way to her locker. The desire to be as far away from the school as possible drove her to spin her combination in record time.

A couple sheets of paper drifted down and landed at her feet, which made her sigh because she could have sworn that she'd gotten rid of all stray papers in her locker the week before.

She bent down and retrieved them, briefly scanning her eyes over the words on the notebook paper. Jade mentally did a double-take when she noticed that wasn't her hand writing, and those weren't her poems. She read the second sheet and at the bottom was a note.

_Sorry if I offended you earlier when I said I'd give my poems to someone else. But you were willing to take them in the first place, so I figured I'd give them to you anyway. Thanks Jade. :) _

_ -Tori_

The blue eyed girl flipped back to the first page and read over the poem written.

_**Label It**_

_This thing, this feeling_

_I keep it in secret_

_Locked, shut and bolted to the confines of my mind_

_Thoughts tumbling through and blown like a hurricane_

_The insanity_

_No, the vanity, of society today_

_Will bend back and break it's own laws like a rebellion_

_Where children are hellions and an impossible thing to do is feel._

_Feeling, grasping, reaching for feelings_

_These things I cannot cope with _

_And leaves my mind reeling_

_This thing, this feeling_

_It makes my heart race_

_Tripping over its beats and falling flat on its face._

_How the mighty have fallen_

_And fallen hard, I have_

_For someone who's affection_

_Feels so much like their wrath_

_Anger of thousands, yet ignorance is bliss_

_So how could this dilemma end?_

_A hit or a miss. So what do I call it?_

_This thing that I feel._

_Since happiness and I never held up _

_Our ends of a deal_

_This thing, it's called love, and hate it, I do._

_But I could never hate to love, someone like you._

Jade frowned a little at the words and her mind quickly linked it to the fact that she knew for sure that Tori had a crush on her. Did she give her that exact poem on purpose?

She couldn't help but shake the feeling that she was being played.

* * *

**A/N: **Before anyone asks, I wrote that poem. I thought it went well with Tori's feelings for Jade. Anyway, updates won't be regular. At least, I won't promise they'll be. But I do promise to not abandon this fic again. Thanks for reading and make sure you drop a review to let me know what you thought. Suggestions, comments, questions... compliments/declarations of love? Lol, no. I'm kidding.

Thanks for reading.

**-C**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The following morning, Jade cornered Tori at her locker while the tanned girl collected her books for her second period class. Startled brown eyes snapped up at the sound of Jade noisily approaching.

A shy smile spread on her glossed lips at the sight of the twin pools of azure staring at her.

"Hey, did you get my note?" Tori asked as her hands lingered on her locker door, holding onto the bottom of it nervously. Jade continued to analyze the tanned singer for a moment before she answered.

"Who's the poem about?" She asked bluntly, tilting her head and appraising the tanned girl. Tori's mind jolted a bit with the inquiry, especially because she didn't have an answer prepared for that sort of question.

It was stupid, she knew, for her to have not expected such a question, but she'd beat herself up over that later.

"What? How'd you know it was about someone?" Tori quickly defended with a worried line forming between her thin eyebrows.

Her hand left her locker and quickly closed it before reaching down and picking her oversized bag up from the hall floor.

"You told me. Just now." Jade replied with a small smirk. Her eyes noted the crimson color that began to taint Tori's cheeks.

"Alright, next question. How would you react if the person you were in love with-"

Tori hurriedly cut her off with a panicked expression while her voice shot up an octave in surprise. "Woah! Who said anything about love?!"

"How about you shut up and let me finish? How would you react if the person you were in love with found someone to be with that wasn't you?" Jade continued with a curious glance at the half Latina.

"I...guess I'd be pretty heartbroken." Tori replied reluctantly with a little frown marring her face.

Jade immediately turned on her heel and walked off to her next class, boots clicking on the tile.

"Perfect." She murmured to herself with a triumphant grin.

* * *

Jade met Naya outside of her Theater Tech class right before lunch. A pale hand wrapped around the Puerto Rican's wrist before she could even protest or ask why the hell was Jade bothering to talk to her anymore.

"What the hell do you want?" Naya demanded to know after a moment of shocked silence from her.

"You're walking me to lunch." Jade informed her in a tone that left no room for negotiation. Naya adopted a fairly pissed off expression, mostly due to being told what to do. The rest was because she couldn't bring herself to object to anything Jade asked of her. It was a pathetic cycle in her eyes. Once the duo reached the doors that led outside to the Asphalt Cafe, Naya spoke up once more.

"So... We're okay then?" The Puerto Rican asked uncertainly on their way to Jade's usual table. With the recent games of twenty questions Jade had been forced to play with Beck, this day she needed to make sure she wasn't interrupted on order for her plan to go smoothly. That being the case, Jade had to jump start her plan of revenge on Naya and opted to drag the girl to lunch today.

"Yeah babe, we're fine." Jade smirked a bit and sat down at the round table while pulling Naya to sit as close to her as she could get.

"Babe?" Naya questioned, but was soon interrupted by Cat, Andre, Robbie, Beck, and Tori all walking as a group to take their places around the table. Beck was the first to notice that they had an extra person.

"Hey, you're that girl." He exclaimed in surprise, earning himself a piercing glare from Jade.

"This _girl_ has a fucking name." Naya spat from across the table while she fixed her glare on Beck for the time being. Though, she couldn't bring herself to be too angry, what with Jade's thigh pressed up against hers as it was. Tori glanced up from her lunch and shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her eyes flicked from Jade, to how close she and her friend were sitting, to Naya's pissed off expression. Jealousy didn't hesitate to begin curling in her stomach and dancing around until it formed a nice big knot. Beck frowned, which wasn't surprising considering that the only girl that was ever mean to him was Jade. He had expected a girl like Naya to be all over him. Well, more so than every other girl. "And that name would be?" Beck proceeded to ask with slight traces of hesitation in his words. Before Naya could respond, Rex spoke up from his puppeteer's arm.

"Who cares! The only name I want to hear is mine, and coming from you! Ha." The puppet shamelessly hit on the Puerto Rican and caused his arm to be torn off by Jade. It wasn't the first, nor would it be the last time it happened.

"Aw, Jade! Look what you did!" Robbie complained while pulling a needle and thread kit from his front pocket.

"They're fucking weird." Naya said to Jade with a look of disdain forming on her tanned face.

"Yeah, no kidding." The pale thespian rolled her eyes in irritation.

"Can you idiots not make fools of yourselves today? She already doesn't like you, why make it worse?" Jade snapped.

The rest of the table fell into an awkward silence where each of them decided that Jade was worse to them with her friend around. None of them cared what her name was anymore, aside for Tori who already knew. The half-Latina chose that silence to speak up after a nervous clearing of her throat.

"I hope you don't mind my asking, but why are you here?" Tori asked with only the slight narrowing of her eyes to convey her displeasure.

Naya turned her uninterested gaze on the upcoming singer and watched her for a second, seemingly in evaluation.

"Well, I'm here because my dad left his condoms at his first wife's house. But the real question is, why the hell are you here? Don't you have some weak ass bar to go sing at? Or did you upgrade to nondescript strip clubs in Olympic boulevard?" Naya glared at the girl with dislike clearly written on her face.

Cat's eyebrows began to dig down in anger. "Hey! Don't talk to Tori like that!" She protested, her already high voice going up an octave with the exertion. Naya had quickly turned to rip on Cat next but Jade placed a warning hand on her thigh and that got the Puerto Rican to turn silent for the moment.

She knew the only reason she stayed at a table with people she couldn't stand was because she was sitting beside the one girl that she _could_ stand. More than stand, it seemed to have turned into a slight infatuation.

Her heart lurched when Jade leaned over and placed her head on her shoulder while she sipped off of Tori's water bottle. Beck cleared his throat and splayed his hands out flat on the lunch table.

His dark brown eyes flicked from Jade to Naya while his inner turmoil made itself visible on his face. Jade could tell he was just _dying_ to say something. Something that she was sure would piss her off, but something nonetheless and anything that would push her plan ahead worked just fine.

The blue eyed girl sat down Tori's water bottle and folded her arms beneath her chest as she stared right back at him. Eventually the tension had become thick enough to taste and Jade got impatient.

"What the hell are you looking at, Beck?" Jade demanded with a hint of a sneer forming on her red lips. Naya shifted slightly to accommodate Jade and eat her lunch at the same time, which ended with the Puerto Rican's left arm wrapped around her torso.

Beck finally sat up straight in his seat to prepare for whatever he was going to say next.

"How long have you two been fucking?" The question left his lips so casually that as soon as the words sunk in and registered in everyone's minds, all eyebrows shot up and Cat slowly lifted her hands until they're blocking her ears.

Robbie turned his wide eyes to look between Jade and Naya, no doubt imagining what Beck just asked in action. Tori sat stunned for a moment before she shoved her lunch container away from herself and stood up to storm off into the building.

Andre looked after Tori with a worried crease between his eyebrows. The tanned Canadian barely noticed the discomfort he'd caused his friends as he never tore his gaze from Jade's. Said girl heaved a long-suffering sigh and rested her arm on the table as if she were bored out of her mind.

"Beck, I'm almost positive that my sex life is none of your business anymore." She replied while she reached up to twist a strand of Naya's hair around her finger.

The tan boy scowled deeply in agitation and leaned forward to reply with a biting remark. But, Naya cut him off with a smug glare that sent jealousy through his body in waves.

"_But_, Ponyboy, if you _must _know…" Naya began with a slight quirk of her perfectly shaped eyebrow. Jade snorted at the name and a smirk played on her lips in amusement.

"Nope, babe, let him imagine it." She suggested and turned her head up a little to look at Naya with a mischievous glint in her pale blue eyes. The writer nodded in agreement and rubbed her thumb in small circles on Jade's side.

"Oh, even better." She grinned and never took her eyes off of Beck.

* * *

After her last period was over, Jade made her way to her locker to grab whatever she needed to take with her for the weekend. That turned out to not be very much, since thankfully she had no homework assigned.

She ended up putting everything school related in her locker and only taking out her wallet and her car keys. Under her breath, she hummed a slow song while her keys jingled in her hand.

When she turned around, her eyes landed on Tori sitting on the stairs that led to the raised floor in the center of the wall. Her head was in her hands and a slow sigh pushed out from her lips.

Deciding to go mess with the half-Latina even more, Jade shut her locker softly and made her way over to Tori with her keys gripped firmly in hand so that they wouldn't jingle. Jade lowered herself onto the step that the singer was occupying and shoved her hard.

Startled, Tori jolted violently and lost her balance on the stairs. She fell over and hit her head against the railing with a loud thud that even made Jade flinch.

"That's _gotta_ hurt." The pale girl murmured dryly with a smirk playing on her lips.

"For _once._ Just _one_ _time_, Jade, can you not be such a total gank?" Tori yells frustratedly, leaning forward to make Jade look at her. Only then did the blue eyed girl notice the slight redness of Tori's eyes.

"Woah, what the hell happened to you?" The actress asked in genuine concern, mainly because she had never seen Tori look so stressed and strained in all the time that she'd known the girl, but also because she feared that she was part of the reason Tori was acting the way that she was.

"Does it matter?" The tanned girl responded quickly, but then shook her head and laughed in such a bitter way that it almost reminded Jade of herself. Her hand lifted up and she frowned a little as she rubbed the red mark forming on her forehead.

"Of course it doesn't. I always seem to forget that you hate me. And then I forget to be mad at you for it." Tori grumbles the last part under her breath, but the silence in the hallways allows Jade to be able to hear her just find. The black haired girl had no idea what to say as a response and since sorry wasn't an option, she asked a rather simple question.

"What's up with you and Naya? You hate her, right?" Jade asked curiously and turned her body to give Tori the sense that she had her full attention.

"I don't _hate_ anyone. I just think that she should learn how to keep her pro-" Tori cut off mid sentence and slapped her hand over her mouth. Quickly, she shook her head and stood up from the stairs to rush to the door.

"I gotta go." She mumbles as a goodbye and leaves without another word.

"What the hell is going on?" Jade asks herself, running her hands through her hair and sighing for what felt like the hundredth time that day. The real question, however, pounded on her brain as if she hadn't heard it the other million times it had interrupted her thoughts.  
_What am I doing?_

* * *

**A/N: **I meant to make this longer, but I think that I put off updating this long enough. The wait won't be as long for the next chapter, promise. Thanks for sticking with this though, and a huge thank you to everyone who reviews. I have two questions for you all though.

1.) What would you like to see in upcoming chapters for the characters?

2.) I was thinking of having something very dramatic happen to one of the characters, so which would you like to see it happen to? You can pick anyone, even Sikowitz.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Today, we're going… _on a field trip_!" The short, balding man hollered merrily. His eyes brightened and scanned the room expecting to see bright, excited gazes staring right back at him. That, however, didn't happen.

Jade's blue eyes trailed up from where her finger glided delicately up and down the blade of scissors Cat got her for Christmas, to the front of the class so that she could look at Sikowitz as if he'd truly lost whatever was left of his mind.

"Aren't we a little old for field trips?" she commented with a miniscule narrowing of her eyes. The now deflated acting teacher sighed and made his way down the center isle of chairs to bend down and look Jade in her eyes.

He took his time too, sauntering over. Seconds dragged on.

"This isn't some field trip to a museum or something equally as boring. Inspired by my latest play, we're going to the meat factory!" Sikowitz announced enthusiastically, while standing upright as he threw his arms out in a grand gesture.

"We will learn the lives of men who hack off the heads of living animals every day! It'll be fantastic!" he yelled and began to bounce on the balls of his feet like a child being told there was no more school for the rest of the year.

As soon as the term 'meat factory' left his mouth, Jade's scissors snipped shut and she leveled an incredulous glare at her favorite teacher. Andre rubbed his hand across his smooth forehead for a moment in what seemed to be contemplation. Everyone else was still fairly shocked.

"Shouldn't we have gotten a notice about this sooner? Y'know, so our parents will know where we're at?" Robbie spoke up nervously. He never was good with speaking around large groups of people.

"Parents, shmarents! So, everyone grab your stuff and let's go!" The class glanced around at each other before everyone just shrugged and stood up to exit the room and grab their things from their lockers. But still… the meat factory?

Upon entering the actual establishment, Jade noticed that it was something akin to walking into a circus. The smell was heavy, gross, and permeating the air all the way to the immediate outdoors.

Their guide took them to nearly every location except for several rooms with locked doors that read 'Staff Only.' Nearly half an hour later they were given free reign to walk around as they pleased so long as they didn't mess with the doors that were forbidden to them.

Unfortunately the staff members trusted the teens a bit too much because somehow, Jade ended up with the key card to one of the doors that had caught her eye.  
Beck's eyes landed on the gleaming silver key and he frowned a little bit.

The slight furrow of his bushy eyebrows used to amuse Jade to no end, because that look typically meant that she'd either angered or confused him. He wasn't really a man of varied emotions besides the typical ones.

Even for those, the expression was nearly always the same and usually accompanied by a sigh when regarding her.  
As if on que, the gust of air deflated his torso as he looked into her blue eyes tiredly.

"Jade, where did you steal that from?" he asked with a patronizing lilt to his voice. That accusation, however, pissed Jade off.

"Nice of you to assume that I lifted these, Oliver." Jade sneered while leveling her harsh gaze at him.

"But as always, you don't know me as well as you think you do. That pre-turn down the hall gave them to me. Apparently, he likes my eyes." She smirked tauntingly up into Beck's dark brown eyes.

Indignantly, Beck crossed his arms and looked down on her as if he was her father.

"I'm pretty sure your _eyes_ weren't what he had his sights on!" he defended with a slight narrowing of his eyes.

"Beck, you don't fucking own me!" Jade snapped, her hand clenched into a fist by her side. An employee walking past with a white apron on and plastic gloves politely told her to watch her language.

"I'm just so goddamn _sorry_ that your pigs will lose their innocence right with their heads!" she turned on the short, balding man with specks of blood on the side of his white apron.

"_Move_." She demanded and shoved past the man before bumping into Tori not ten steps later.

The tan girl rose a questioning brow at Jade's behavior before she caught the irate girl by her wrist and spun her around.

"What's wrong?" she asked warily, not even surprised at how cold Jade's arm was.

"Don't fucking _touch_ me, Vega!" Jade growled menacingly. Tori might have even been worried, except Jade's never had a problem with her touch before.

The blue eyed girl pulled out of her grasp with a violent yank and began to storm off.

"I heard you down there fighting with Beck." The brunette yelled after her, which caused Jade to stop and turn her head slightly in Tori's direction.

"You don't know _what_ you heard." She retorted with a layer of sarcasm coating her words like wet paint. One smear and the meaning beneath was clear. Jade didn't _want_ Tori to hear her fight with Beck. She didn't _want _Tori to see her façade slipping and cracking around the edges. She didn't want to seem _weak_.

Tori had the intuition of one that had spent her entire life picking apart the brains of characters in novels. Jade never truly had a chance of hiding behind her snarky remarks and terror-inducing glares because the second a wall came up, Tori picked it apart just as easily. When no reply came from the girl with eyes like melted chocolate, Jade turned all the way around to face her.

"I heard enough to know that you're hurting." Tori admitted with a small step toward the nearly seething teen. Five, then ten, then fifteen seconds passed. Tori counted because it was easier than standing in silence while those azure eyes searched her face.

Whatever Jade was looking for, apparently she found it, because the next second a pale had was around a tan wrist with an iron grip and both of them ended up in front of one of the doors they were told not to go into.

"What's this?" Tori felt compelled to ask, though knowing Jade, she already could tell that this would either end up being an intriguing adventure or a dangerous mistake.

"Fuck, I don't know." Jade shrugged with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. The key in her hand slid into the door and turned with a little bit of jiggling. What seemed like mist spilled through the cracked door and Jade pulled Tori inside. The Goth closed the door behind both of them and smirked a little.

"This is pretty cool…" she muttered more to herself than anything else. The cool mist brushed against their exposed arms and legs and Jade watched in curiosity when Tori spread her arms out and looked up and around in wonder.

They found their clothes becoming damp with the water misting from the ceiling but they couldn't quite have cared less. Elated brown eyes locked on wary blue ones and suddenly Jade didn't feel too well. Her stomach was… fluttering.

It was fluttering and she hated it. When Tori walked further off to sate her curiosity of what exactly was in this room, Jade made her escape and locked the door behind her. She figured someone would find the half-Latina eventually and then she went on her merry way.

While the mist around Tori began to ease up, she noticed she was in a meat locker of sorts. Slabs of fat, bloody meat were on tables around the room. It sent a jolt down Tori's spine because she couldn't stand to see such a gruesome sight.

The mist cleared all together and then it got cold. _Very _cold, _very_ fast. In minuets she was shivering harder than she ever had and as she glanced around, she noted that Jade left her. As she stumbled over to the little monitor on the wall, she noticed that the temperature was below zero and she was in nothing but the t-shirt, sandals and shorts that she went to school in.

The water seemed to freeze against her skin and at some point, she began to bang on the door in hopes that someone would realize that she was trapped. She stopped screaming after a while as well, when each intake of breath was laced with the sharp, bitter air around her.

She fell to her knees and let out a silent sob, she felt like she was dying. What seemed like hours later, a staff member hurriedly opened the door with Sikowitz at his side, their faces identical masks of worry.

Someone had handed her a warm body towel that they wrapped around her frail body and by the time that Jade had made it over to see the commotion, Tori fainted.

* * *

When she woke in the hospital, she could barely keep her eyes open. Everything seemed to move in slow motion and she was groggy beyond belief. She could overhear the doctor outside, telling her teacher and her parents her medical condition.

"_Tori caught hypothermia while locked inside of that freezer. Her being nearly soaked with water beforehand played a role in her condition. Hypothermia drops oxygen levels and lowers blood pressure, hence why she fainted. For the next week she'll be very sleepy, sometimes she may become confused and clumsy. I _am, _however, recommending that she stay here overnight. She's alright for visitors, but I'd suggest one at a time."_

There was a short silence that followed the different footsteps moving in different directions. Then breaths later, and her mom entered her hospital room. Her brown eyes, so similar to her daughter's, shined with unshed tears.

"How did this happen, Tori?" she whispered as she sat in the chair at Tori's bedside.

The youngest Vega shook her head slightly, everything was still blurry. Voices came and went, then when she was almost sure that everyone went home, a familiar husky voice was near her ear.

"Vega?" Brown eyes fluttered open and she turned her head as slowly as she could to look at the blue eyes that looked at her with guilt.

It took a while, but eventually Tori gathered the energy to answer the Goth. With a deep breath, she breathed out a quiet, "What do you want?"  
Jade's breath hitched and her jaw clenched at the sight of Tori so weak. Her chest squeezed painfully in her chest and her nails dug roughly into her palm.

"I'm…" Jade began, but the words wouldn't come. Eventually Tori closed her eyes once more because it took far too much energy to hold them open.

"Fuck… Tori, I'm sorry. I'm such a fucking ass." Jade admitted as she bowed her head and ran both hands through her hair. She slumped in the hard seat by Tori's side and looked back up to find chocolate brown eyes peering at her intensely.

Jade began to get nervous when no reply came from the tan girl, but eventually a breathy, weak response came.

"Yeah, you are." Jade reached over and hesitantly grabbed the ill girl's hand in her own with a gentleness that she hadn't known existed.

"I'll make it up to you. Promise." Jade declared, feeling out of control and helpless in that moment. A small smile curled up the corners of Tori's lips and she breathed out a sigh.

"You already did."

* * *

**A/N:** Eh, It's kinda short, but I really needed to update. Has it really been a month? Maybe someone should remind me to update sometimes. Joking. But, really. Reviews make me update faster, so you should review or your house will be taken over by small children that chant 'The witch is coming, the witch is coming!'


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Nearly half an hour later, a tall, handsome man named Rico was met with Jade still at Tori's bedside. The half-Latina was fast asleep and wide blue eyes were firmly fixed on her face.

When the well dressed man closed the door behind himself, those same blue eyes snapped to land on his own. Jade looked over the man. He had slightly darker skin than Tori's and pretty blue eyes with long, black eyelashes that matched the color of his short, floppy hair and the stubble of a full beard.

"Are you family?" she inquired icily as her hands tightened on the edges of the sheet covering Tori's bed. The man rose a bushy eyebrow at her tone, but smiled nonetheless. While he showed off his straight white teeth, he nodded.

"I'm Victoria's uncle." His deep voice reminded Jade of a warmer version of her father. She shrugged the thought away. Jade tilted her chin up in a display of confidence and sat up straighter in the hard seat.

"I'm not leaving." She said with a tone that rang in finality. The dull florescent lights of the hospital room flickered and buzzed constantly, but they seemed to get darker throughout the day as if they were as sad for Tori's condition as Jade was.

Rico glanced up at the lights, the noise had already turned to background noise to him. His blue eyes moved back to Jade and he nodded once more while clasping his hands together like a professional speaker that Jade had once seen at one of her father's get togethers.

"I never requested you do such a thing. I just came to make sure my niece was alright and tell her that her cousin, Naya, wouldn't be able to make it. Jade's ears perked at that and she spun around completely in her seat, combat boots making a thud on the linoleum.

"Her _cousin_?" The Goth repeated in disbelief. Obviously there are thousands of Naya's on the earth, but she couldn't help but shake the feeling that she knew _that_ Naya.

"Yes… her cousin." Rico chuckled at her expression, though the way his eyebrows quirked, said that he was a little confused and didn't understand her reaction.

"What… what school is she at?" Jade inquired nervously. Her hands fell into her lap and she twisted her fingers together, a nervous habit she had picked up from her mother. Mentally, she berated herself for not being three steps ahead already.

"Hollywood Arts, with Victoria." Rico chuckled as if it were obvious information, little did he know that Jade was having a little trouble finding the humor in the situation. She ran her tongue over the front of her teeth as she tended to do when making decisions.

Finally, she stood and exited the room without a single word. A cold chill was the only reminder that she was there in the first place.

* * *

At home, Jade sat in her room and plotted. As nefarious as the term may sound, that's precisely what she did. Her entire plan had been rocked right down the middle and cracked, then splintered into millions of pieces at her feet.

Was that why Tori was pissed the other day? When she was talking about Naya, she seemed to have this undercurrent of anger running through her.

_"I don't __hate__ anyone. I just think that she should learn how to keep her pro-"_

Was she going to say promises? And if so, promises of what? A pale hand moved to grip her bag and lifted it up onto her bed beside her body. She rifled through it for a few moments before she fished out the diary.

Jade wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to do with it… she certainly didn't want to read anymore of it than she had, the whole thing had thrown her for a huge fucking loop. Yet, going against her gut, she flipped to a random page in the beginning.

There was an entry on the back of a page that she'd previously read, that she hadn't read before. It was undated and written as if Tori was being rushed.

_Uncle Rico has finally found a lovely woman named Sonia. I've heard that Rico's daughter Tamzin gets along just fine with Sonia's daughter, Naya. They're a very attractive family and they've recently moved to LA from Puerto Rico. I've always wanted to visit, they've shown me pictures and it's __so_ _beautiful over there!_

The diary was promptly slammed shut and Jade's chest heaved in a long-suffering sigh.

_Give me a fucking break._ She thought to herself.

* * *

A few days later, Tori was back at school and greeted with the warm, open arms of Hollywood Arts. Jade couldn't shake the feeling that no one would miss her if she suddenly didn't show up for almost a week.

Sikowitz was suspended from teaching for a month for taking the class out without anyone's permission, as well as a student getting severely injured on his watch.

Jade felt that she probably should have felt bad, but with all the craziness going on at school, she could hardly wait to go to her acting class and not be forced to expect total chaos.

She made it to fifth period without anyone pissing her off too much, but then she saw who the class had as a substitute.

"_Vice Principal Dickers_?" Robbie exclaimed in shock. Truthfully, the gang hadn't seen him around since detention and it was almost even safe for them to assume that he'd either quit, been fired, or simply dropped off the face of the earth.

His deep, booming voice yelled for them to all take their seats and the class all but fought each other to get their butts in a chair like he'd demanded. Jade took more of her time than others, mainly because everyone knew where her seat was, and no matter how much Dickers scared the wazz out of them, they were slightly more terrified of Jade and left her seat wide open.

"Okay, Pre-Turds! What's your hippie of a teacher been teaching you morons?"

Tori's face scrunched in confusion and she raised her hand timidly.

"I thought it was Pre-Turn?" she commented with a slight raise of her arched eyebrow.

The class nodded in agreement and quiet murmurs floated throughout the room. Dickers' nose flared in anger and he took a step toward Tori with a finger pointed straight between her eyes.

"It's _Pre-Turd_ and if I say the sky is _purple_ you better not argue!" After he finished spraying the half-Latina's face with his spit, he took a step backward and clasped his hands behind his back.

"_Now answer my question_!" He barked suddenly in the silence that had followed his previous outburst. A girl in the back of the class in front of Jade raised her hand with a bright smile.

"We were going over method acting again!" she volunteered helpfully.

Dickers chuckled darkly with a sneer screwing up his lips.

"Again? I knew you guys were idiots, but who would've guessed you were remedial as well." He smirked and took a seat on the stage, leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs.

Jade tilted her head back in her seat and let out a loud groan of annoyance.

"You're such a wazzbag!" she growled while tilting her head forward once more and shooting a withering glare in his direction.

"Detention!" he shouted immediately after the blue eyed girl finished speaking.

"You can't give detentions as a substitute, dumbass." Jade muttered angrily under her breath.

"What did you just say, Creepazoid?" Dickers asked.

Jade's perfectly shaped eyebrows shot up and a smirk slowly appeared on her lips.

"Thank you." She nodded and crossed her arms, seemingly pleased with the nickname/insult.

"_Anyway_! Since your teacher, Psycho-Twit, seemingly can't get anything done around here, everyone go get a dictionary from that shelf," he gestured behind him to a large bookshelf.

"and write all the words and definitions for one letter until the end of class." He demanded as the class looked at him in disbelief. In the shocked silence, no one moved until he yelled again.

"_GO!"_

* * *

Jade caught Tori's wrist after school before she could walk through the doors to exit the building. Most of the hallways were empty since they both stayed behind late to work on their separate talents.

"What, Jade?" Tori asked almost shyly. Her brown eyes locked onto hesitant blue ones for several seconds before the pale girl said anything.

"My dad's having one of his 'rich people parties' and me and the other kids hang out in my basement-"

"What does that have to do with me?" Tori interrupted with a cute, confused frown on her face.

"Would you let me finish? I wanted to know if you wanted to come over and hang out with us." Jade continued with a tilt of her head that made her obsidian tresses spill down her shoulder like ink.

Tori's lip found itself trapped between her teeth as she thought the offer over.

"When you guys hang out, is it legal?" The tan girl asked with a small quirk of her eyebrow. Jade huffed, mainly because Tori asked her this question all the time in comments on The Slap.

"Somewhat." Jade answered vaguely with an alluring smile.

Eventually, the half-Latina nodded and smiled in excitement.

Half an hour later, the two pulled up in a pretty neighborhood with houses that looked small on the outside but were huge on the inside. Jade's house had the sprinklers on in the lawn and her neighbor was outside tending to her garden.

It wasn't particularly bright, considering it was nearly seven and the clouds had covered the sun up an hour ago, which meant that Jade was alright to drive. The Goth backed into her long driveway and they both exited the car. After they made their way to the front door, a man called out from down the street.

"Hey, Jade!" He yelled excitedly and jogged over. The pale girl chuckled under her breath and murmured for Tori to wait where she was. Brown eyes followed Jade's back as she met the man half way and had a semi-shady discussion.

When the Goth returned, she was sporting a smirk and a fifty dollar bill in her pocket.

Tori looked at her curiously and opened her mouth to ask what she was doing, but Jade quickly shook her head.

"Don't talk about it." She unlocked the front door and entered, greeted by a living room full of rich men and their trophy wives, along with their well dressed teenaged children.

"Ah, Jadelyn! Nice of you to make it home, darling." Her mom plastered the standard bright, fake smile on her face and took her daughter by the elbow. Her dull blue eyes landed on Tori and a look of confusion passed over her face.

"Oh, dear. Who's your friend?" Mrs. West asked while turning back to Jade.

"This is Tori. I invited her over." Jade replied civilly, but Tori could see that she was very uncomfortable.

Mrs. West's bleached eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How lovely! What's that short for? Victoria?" she asked, pleasantly intrigued.

"Yes ma'am." Tori nodded self consciously and took a step forward to shake the fake-looking woman's hand.

"Nice to meet you." The half-Latina said sincerely as the gold ring covered hand enveloped her own.

"The pleasure is mine, darling! Now, kids downstairs while grown-ups take care of business!" The woman ushered all of the teens down into the basement which was almost larger than the living room if that were possible.

There was a deep maroon carpet that felt like heaven when Tori removed her sandals from her feet as not to track dirt around the house. The walls were a pretty cream color and there was a giant TV that took up almost an entire wall.

Separated by a maroon curtain, was another section with a full-sized pool table and two recliners. A fake plant made it's home in the corner and a hanging lamp extended from the ceiling.

Beside the television was a stone fireplace with pictures of the family that seemed to be nonexistent around the rest of the house. In front of the TV was a leather loveseat and matching recliners on either side.

Tori turned to look at the bar which was separated only by gray tile flooring instead of the carpet. The shelves were lined with every major brand of liquor one could imagine and several teens were already making their way over to help themselves.

Jade caught her gaping at the place and snatched her hand to drag her further to the other end of the room.

"Look, whatever happens down here, don't feel obligated to do _anything_. Got it?" Jade demanded.

Tori nodded quickly and frowned a little, but before she could ask just what Jade meant, someone handed her a bottle of soda. Tori smiled her thanks and looked over the handsome boy.

He had dark hair that was combed out of his face, yet it brushed against his shoulders. He was tall and lean, but obviously worked out. His pretty brown eyes and perfect smile almost had Tori hypnotized, but instead she turned to look at Jade and thought that no one could really compare to her.

Jade warily looked at the guy and a silent conversation seemed to pass between the two of them. Eventually, Jade relaxed and caught a soda that someone had thrown to her with the ease of a lioness. Tori giggled at the thought.

"Gather 'round, peasants. Mama's got a new game to play." A girl called from the center of the room. She was a dirty blonde with big brown eyes and a small frame, though Tori could already tell she took no crap from anyone.

Jade pulled her to sit on the love seat and watch.

"I'm gonna spin the bottle, 'nd whoever it lands on has to say something they've never done before. If you _have _done it, you drink your pop. A slow, mischievous smile spread across her lips and Jade glanced at her guest.

"Remember what I said." She murmured and turned back to the game. Tori's stomach was tight and she felt wary. It was obvious there was something in these drinks and Tori assumed it was alcohol.

The bottle was spun and there was an excited chatter going around the room. There had to be at least fifteen people down here, and some of them were related.

The bottle landed on a girl with dark brown hair and green eyes.

"I've never gotten chased by a clown." She said as she leaned back in the recliner smugly.

Everyone glanced at each other, and it seemed that Tori and Jade weren't the only ones. Tori wasn't sure weather to be grateful or disappointed about the clown that had chased them at the gas station during their trip to San Diego.

Two other guys as well as Tori and Jade unscrewed their caps; no one was even expecting the click that they usually made since everyone knew they had been opened. The half-Latina didn't want to feel left out, so she took a large gulp along with the other three teens in the room.

She began to feel something strange inside of her, something that was very familiar to the other three. It had taken a few minuets, but her palms were staring to sweat and she could feel her face heating up and sweat trickling down her neck.

Tori's first thought was that there was something wrong with her drink and every one else was fine, but she glanced around and Jade was faring the same as her. The other teens watched the four of them with amused smiles. Tori's body tensed up and the girl who spun the bottle was speaking again.

"Have fun." She smirked.

Her voice was in slow motion and the words put themselves on repeat in her head. Suddenly, it was the most hilarious thing she had ever witnessed and she was laughing hysterically.

Her head tilted back to stare up at the shifting forms on the ceiling and the different colors that blasted in her vision and swirled happily. She attempted to word how amazing it was to the others, but it came out funny and she wasn't even sure what she was saying anymore.

Someone had moved to the sound system and turned on some music, yet it was nowhere near loud. Jade felt as if she was becoming a part of the notes that drifted through the air as they became tangible.

She could smell, taste, touch them as she pleased. They caressed her mind she would've sworn it was the most beautiful thing in the world. The Goth's eyes snapped open from where they had closed and they landed on a picture frame hung on the wall. She could see it in a hundred dimensions and it was so beautiful she had to close her eyes again.

After something like years passed, the first group came down and found the others freshly taken off. Tori blinked a few times and looked at Jade who had her head rested on the back of the couch with the most peaceful expression on her pale face.

"Jade?" Tori asked warily.

Blue eyes opened and locked on brown ones curiously.

"What's up?" The pale girl asked.

"What was in that drink?" Tori inquired as her eyes lit up just thinking about the experience.

"LSD." Jade smirked calmly and sighed while her eyes closed again.

"Like… the _drug_?" Tori asked in shock. Surprisingly, she couldn't bring herself to be angry. It was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to her, even if she hadn't _known_ it would happen to her.

"Yeah, Vega…like the drug." Jade smiled and laughed a little bit as she sat up.

"What? You wanna go home?" Jade asked as her smile faltered slightly.

"No! Actually, can I stay with you? Overnight?" Tori asked with a hopeful smile.

"Sure."

* * *

**A/N: **First off, I'd like to say that I've never tried LSD or any drug, this was simply from research. (don't try this at home, yada yada yada.) And Naya and Tori are related? Holy cripes. That's further elaborated on in the next chapter, but I'll just say that Rico is Naya's step father. Drop a review, yeah? I wanna know what you guys think.

**-C**


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